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Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Freedom of Expression

I have a few questions for all you bloggers.

Should creative artists always be given the freedom to express their own ideas? Should government impose any restrictions on their ideas?I thought about it a lot and this is what I have come up with and I also expect your valuable comments on this.

“Freedom of expression “is the most significant factor in creativity. If we put the creative artists in a pigeonhole and ask them to respond accordingly,will result in the ineffectiveness of their work. But what about today's chaotic, intricate and confused scenario?

Could granting the above mentioned liberty can pose severe problems. As the world is moving towards ruthlessness and where religion has started to have its absolute sway, whatever the creative artist produces will have its own repercussions. We have seen many instances where books, films, music, paintings falling into the trashes of controversies. This reminds me of the controversy, M.F. Hussain had to encounter. He created nude paintings of hindu deities and mother India, hence is being deplored as an anti- hindu. He had come under fatal attacks from hindu fundamentalists and some of them went to the extent of vandalizing his paintings. He has been living in London and Dubai since then and now Qatar has come forward to grand him its citizenship. He is 95 year old who has a scant opportunity to return to his motherland, India.Salman Rushdie's is yet another example. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the spiritual leader of Iran issued a fatwa against him for his most controversial Satanic Verses. He called the book a blasphemy against Islam. Hence asked for his execution. It was only after the death of Ayattollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Rushdie could come out of his hiding and also from the police protection.

Taslima Nazreen's Lajja was banned. It describes the aftermath of Babri Masjid demolition in Bangladesh, which is the neighbouring country of India where the incident took place( theme was the persecution of a hindu family by muslims).She rose to fame due to her feminist views and criticisms of Islam. She always wrote about female oppression for which she always came under severe attack. She had to flee from her country, Bangladesh and was forced to live in many countries. For quite a while, she got asylum in Kolkata, India which she had to renounce due to the attack from Islamic fundamentalists. Currently, she is residing at Sweden.

Music also could not evade any criticism. Films are also not an exemption. These are just a few instances to show the acceptance of people as they are by people.

It is the creative artist who can give a new face to think. Curbing their freedom would be like shackling them. But what if the same efforts create a hubbub and disrupt the equilibrium in the society? A little discrepancy can wreak havoc.So I always wonder what is needed to have an unbiased outlook.